Use Your Time at Home Wisely — Learn the Basics of a Foreign Language
With an excess of free time during the global pandemic, one of the key things one can do is try to spend that time productively and not let it go to waste. If you are preparing for travel once the borders open, why not try to learn the language of the country you plan to visit?
Here are a few tips that can help you get started and guide you through the process:
Consistency
If you want to make tangible progress, make sure to set out a certain part of your day (even 10 minutes will make a difference!) to practice the language in any form! This even includes listening to music in that language or watching an episode of a series. As long as you’re exposed to the foreign language consistently, you’re bound to learn it.
Think of your target vocabulary
Let’s assume you’re going on a business trip (with the help of DIB Travel, for instance: www.dibtravel.com). This automatically means that you ought to focus on the phrases you are likely to encounter during a meeting or some bits of language that could even impress your business partners! For that reason, stick only to essential grammar and your target vocabulary.
Talk to yourself — out loud
Indeed, it would be ideal to try this out at home and not in a public space, where it could be interpreted in different ways… Nonetheless, this method is actually proven to help with the fear of speaking that beginners often face. In this way, you’re getting used to hearing yourself speak the language as well as predicting certain conversation patterns, which, consequently, helps you learn the common phrases more quickly.
Carry around (or download) a dictionary
Learning words by heart from a dictionary is the worst way you can go purely due to the fact that a dictionary should be your support, not your teacher or coursebook. However, having a small dictionary with you at times can prove to be really helpful when you’ve got the word at the tip of your tongue or when you simply can’t remember the foreign word whatsoever. Fortunately, entire dictionaries can now fit inside your phone, so you can easily find various dictionary apps and look up a word at any time!
Explore music in that language
In order to communicate in a foreign language, it’s equally important to understand what the other person is saying. In other words, you need to work on your listening comprehension. Every language has its own unique tempo and rhythm. Listening to various audio sources can help you tune your ear to the language — music being simply one of the more entertaining forms.
Make mistakes and own them!
The moment you start learning something new — mistakes are bound to happen and languages are no exception. That being said, it is crucial for you to accept that through trial and error we make much more notable progress and foreigners will always appreciate the effort you’re trying to make in order to close the language gap between you.
And finally, always remember to have fun while learning — apart from it being a useful asset and a lovely addition to your CV, it will provide you with a completely new outlook! And, if you need help getting to the country where you could practice, don’t forget to visit www.dibtravel.com.
